The Free Thinker Institute

Donations Appreciated but Not Required
Donate Here via Ethical NYC to Support this Event
https://ethicalnyc.app.neoncrm.com/forms/54

Special Event:
Summer on the Hudson: Riverside Comedy Club
https://www.nycgovparks.org/events/2025/08/29/riverside-comedy-club

Pier 1 at Riverside Park South, W 70 St & Riverside Blvd in Manhattan NY 10019/10023/10069
Q2H6+WG New York

Pier i Café
Riverside Park South
W 70th St #500
New York NY 10069
+1 (212) 362-4450
info@piericafe.com
@piericafe
Riverside Park Conservancy
475 Riverside Dr Ste 455
New York, NY 10115-0085
+1 (212) 870-3070
mail@riversideparknyc.org
@riversideparknyc
City of New York, Department of Parks & Recreation
Arsenal Central Park
830 5th Ave
New York NY 10065-7095
+1 (212) 639-9675
https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/bryant-park
@nycparks

· Location is subject to change for weather. Check website calendars and Meetup pages for various groups for updates and changes.
· Harry is the Point of Contact, reachable at +1 (929) 251-3570. Call, don’t text.
· Enter park at 68th St and take Northern walkway. Meet at restrooms at end of walkway behind Pier i Cafe. Check Meetup pages for exact location. Stragglers and lost people call Harry. Group will move about after initial meetup.
· Alternative indoor location will be the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, 1887 Broadway, New York NY 10023, +1 (212) 875-5456, https://www.lincolncenter.org/venue/atrium.

Closest Transit:
M72: W 66 St/Freedom Pl
M57: West End Av/W 66 St, West End Av/W 64 St
M66: West 66 Street & West End Avenue
M11: Amsterdam Av/W 65 St, Columbus Ave/W 66 St
1: 66 St-Lincoln Center
M5, M7, M104: Broadway/W 65 St, Broadway/W 66 St, Columbus Ave/W 66 St

Our friends at various groups are cross-posting this event. Some groups have after-parties.

Humanist Happy Hour
Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture
http://bsec.org/calendar-3/
https://www.meetup.com/brooklyn-society-for-ethical-culture

Drinking Inquisitively
Center for Inquiry – NYC Branch
https://cfi-nyc.org/
https://www.meetup.com/cfinyc/

Humanist Happy Hour
The City Congregation for Humanistic Judaism
https://citycongregation.org/events-calendar/

FTI: Thinkers Multi-group BYOB potluck
Free Thinkers Institute
https://www.freethinkerinstitute.org/events/
https://www.meetup.com/freethinkerinstitute/

Live DWA
Gotham Atheists
https://gothamatheists.org/
https://www.meetup.com/GothamAtheists/

Humanist Happy Hour
New York Society for Ethical Culture
https://ethical.nyc/events
https://www.meetup.com/ethicalnyc/

NYC Atheists In-Person Meeting
https://nycatheists.org/calendar/
https://www.meetup.com/nycatheists/

Cross-group Happy Hour at Ethical Culture
Secular Humanists Society of New York
https://www.shsny.org/events-calendar
https://www.meetup.com/shsny-org/

RULES for In-Person Meeting:

1. GROUP PROMOTION: Each group may bring flyers or posters advertising membership, donations, and meetings.
2. DRINKING: Bring your own booze should be limited to beer and wine, no hard liquors. Everyone should drink responsibly and don't get sloshed. Save the hard drinking for the after parties in outside bars.
3. RESPECT FOR DIFFERENCES: While there is overlap among the groups, not every group is the same and thinks the same. Respect each other's differences and different ideologies. Look for common ground not for things to hate. We're all friends here, treat each other as such.
4. ARGUMENTS: Listen to each other’s opinion completely in good faith. Ask questions about other's points instead of immediately dismissing. Approach taboo subjects--such as sex, religion, and politics--with strangers cautiously; back out if getting heated. Agree to disagree and walk away if necessary.
5. RESPECT FOR THE MEETING HOUSE: Use appropriate trash/recycling cans and clean up after yourselves. Leave the Meeting House better than you found it. Respect the neighborhood, don't act foolishly on the streets when entering and leaving or loitering.
6. NO ELECTIONEERING: Due to tax restrictions for many groups being §501(c)(3) tax-exempt, do not discuss, promote, denigrate, or leave/display/hand out materials for any candidate, campaign, party, or proposition on any upcoming election. No electioneering during the event. Other activities prohibited by tax-restrictions are also not allowed.
7. SELF-RECOGNITION: Try to speak from your own experiences and own your intentions and impacts. Recognize your own privileges and different backgrounds.
8. CONFIDENTIALITY: Meetings are private despite being open to the public. Recordings are prohibited. You may share what you learned, but not direct quotes and identities.
9. MEETING MODERATION: The organizers, hosts, co-hosts, moderators, and discussion leaders will use various methods available to ensure compliance with the rules and maintain decorum.
   Attending any meeting or event implies agreement with the above rules.

This is our series on Donald Robertson’s book “How to Think Like a Roman Emperor”. We will learn about the life of Marcus Aurelius and his philosophy practice. As usual on Friday nights, we will cover the book in-depth; see schedule below.
SCHEDULE
8-08-2025 Chap. 1
8-15-2025 Chap. 1 continued
8-22-2025 Chap. 2
8-29-2025 Chap. 2 continued
9-05-2025 Chap. 3
9-12-2025 Chap. 3 continued
9-19-2025 Chap. 4
9-26-2025 Chap. 4 continued
10-03-2025 Chap. 5
10-10-2025 Chap. 5 continued
10-17-2025 Chap. 6
10-24-2025 Chap. 6 continued
10-31-2025 Chap. 7
11-07-2025 Chap. 7 continued
11-14-2025 Chap. 8 (just 1 part)
11-21-2025 Finale
READING MATERIALS
The book is available on Amazon and other booksellers. Various formats are available: audio, paperback, Kindle. Reading in advance is optional; StoicDan will collect highlights from each part of the book in an outline for the meeting.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F9YYR62
Time
Meeting time (USA):
7:00PM Eastern
6:00PM Central
5:00PM Mountain
4:00PM Pacific
For our international friends,
Please convert time with the free tool
https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/
Zoom Info
CLICK TO START MEETING - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86559843870
If you don't have a computer with camera or mic, then you can attend by telephone. Dial one of these numbers and add meeting ID 865 5984 3870#
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US
+1 301 715 8592 US
In general, Stoicism teaches us how to handle difficult people and events, how to avoid anger and worry, and overall to use moderation in life. We will discuss how Stoic practice can lead to a meaningful and fulfilling life.
Our group enjoys open-minded, respectful conversations on Stoicism and how it relates to science, culture, philosophy, history, other belief systems, and pop culture (books and movies). If we differ in our opinions, then "we agree to disagree". The long-term goal is to improve our minds via group discussions. Our group does NOT discuss religion or politics.
This event is free and open to the public.
Events inPhilosophyPsychology
Self-Help & Self-ImprovementMarcus AureliusStoicism

Another enjoyable free flowing discussion after the regular
Saturday Melbourne Existentialist Society Meeting. Please feel free to join the Melbourne Existentialst Society meeting from 2 pm AEST
https://www.meetup.com/existentialist-society/?eventOrigin=event_home_page
Life the Universe Street Philosophy commences at cessation of
The Melbourne Existentialist Society meeting.
Some of the many topics we have discussed previously,
some of which I could almost follow, are-
The Id, Super Ego and Ego
Where did the laws of physics come from?
Why is there something rather than nothing?
Does Truth exist independent of consciousness?
Hard problem of consciousness.
Conspiracy theories - is there a psychological profile of a habitual conspiracy Theorist.
Is it possible to have ojective Morality without a concept of God?
Definition of "Information"
How do we know how a particle behaves in an unobserved state if "unobserved" by definition means we don't blinking well see it?
Meaning of meaning in "what is the meaning of life?"
Definition of Language
Ship of Thesis - is the "thing" just a construct?
Tranendentalism
Determinism
Observer effect in quantum physics
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Is there a why to human existence?
Definition of experience.
Method of applying reason.
What does it mean to be "your authentic self?"
Idealism v Realism - ABSOLUTE TRUTH - What does that mean ? does it exist ? Ontology, how equipped are we to fathom the nature of things? HARD PROBLEM OF CONSCIOUSNESS: WHERE DOES CONSCIOUSNESS ARISE?: DOES DNA TRANSLATE TO BEHAVIOUR?, IF SO HOW - definition of rationality - origins of "value" - precision of mathematics - concept of infinity.
Definition of Information
- where is the information in an un opened book, does it exist when unobserved?
Reason
- what is the definition of reason
does it exist in physical laws, i.e. if we can we say "the reason the rock fell is because of gravity"?, how is this different to "what is the reason she chose Pepsi max instead of Coke Zero?"
Validity of evolutionary psychology:
- what evidence is there for evolutionarily selected behaviour, given that we cannot observe the history of the emergence of neurological structures as we can observe evolutionarily selected anatomical changes?

August 31 - We are reading NE VII.6, which is about the problem of self-control in regard to emotions. Aristotle in this chapter 6 attempts to outline a description of how we react emotionally to things observed in the environment. Being short in temper, for example, is anger that listens to reason but mishears it. Aristotle likens it to a dog that starts barking when it hears the slightest noise before finding out if the noisemaker is a friend. How to re-calibrate our emotions to be more in tune with reason. That's partly the topic of self-control.
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My summary of chapter 5 on beastliness can be found here to help you catch up to us. https://mega.nz/file/nmAFlShI#8W230CZmaUZYfqzLma0qTYE9gxpLvV9vvz1pQDyN6tE Bring your own questions about the text if you are interested in joining this Sunday's meeting. We will begin reading at 1149a24.
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We are live-reading and discussing Aristotle's ~Nicomachean Ethics~, book VII, which is about troubleshooting the virtues.
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The prerequisite to this book is our answering for ourselves these questions from the prior books, to which we will briefly review:
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1. What is a virtue of character {ēthikē aretē}?
2. How does one come to acquire it? (E.g. [Aristotle’s], ambition, bravery, gentlemanliness, generosity, candor, …)
3. From a first-person perspective in being virtuous, how does one feel and what does one see (differently, discursively) in a given situation of everyday living?
4. From a third-person perspective, how is the virtuous person (of a specific virtue) to be characterized?
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The project's cloud drive is here, at which you'll find the reading texts, notes, and slideshows.